Narendra Modi is a smart politician who can read the tell-tale signs around him. He understands the importance of public perception, possibly more than any other contemporary active politician, which is one reason he has survived and prospered for so long.That is why he, of all people, would know that chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar has become a liability for his regime as well as for him personally. Such is the lack of trust in Kumar that even die-hard Modi followers are not ready to defend him. For proof, just check your family and friends’ WhatsApp groups. And what do smart politicians do when someone in their orbit becomes a huge liability? They quickly dump that person and hope to cut their losses. Modi, if he wants to see reasonable peace and quiet in the final years of his third term, could also be thinking of a smart way to get rid of the most controversial chief election commissioner-ever.Following the newspaper exposé and the ongoing ‘vote-chori’ (vote-stealing) protests against the Modi government’s handpicked CEC – protests that are gathering steam with every passing day despite police threats and a massive clampdown – the general consensus seems to be that Kumar’s continuation in office will cause more headaches for the government; headaches that the politically-diminished Modi government can ill afford. The teflon coating has worn thin and Modi may not want to expend his political capital protecting someone who, with every passing day, is costing him public support.Since public perception is what matters most in politics, it would not have escaped the government’s attention that most men and women on the streets, including those who have no political inclination, have already drawn the conclusion that Kumar, for whatever reason, has been acting as the ruling party’s handmaiden and bringing disrepute to the government.No amount of explanation, counter-narrative or obfuscation is helping the government’s or the Election Commission’s cause. When even the so-called Godi media anchors start questioning the CEC and the heavy-handed manner in which the Delhi Police, clearly acting on orders of their political masters, are going after peaceful Gen-Z protesters, things must really be bad.Gyanesh Kumar’s time is up and he must go.But will he?That is the million-dollar question. Shunting out the CEC, even one as controversial and openly-partisan as Kumar, isn’t as easy as getting a Union Minister (Dharmendra Pradhan) to put in his papers under pressure due to protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the opposition led by the Congress.A minister, any minister for that matter, in the current establishment is completely disposable; the majority of Indians would not even know the names of five cabinet ministers and their portfolios in the government. But the CEC, whether citizens know his name or not, is part of a purportedly independent institution. His abrupt resignation under pressure, will lead to bigger questions about the elections held during his tenure at the helm.And that is something the government would not like. Also, and more importantly, the government knows that the protestors won’t stop at the CEC – their next target will certainly be much bigger and more powerful.Can the government afford to take that chance? While conventional wisdom says the government must get rid of Kumar and survive to fight another day, the Modi government is anything but conventional. What will weigh on the minds of those dispensing advice to the prime minister is the message such a move would be sending to the hordes of other bureaucrats and police officers who have been conveniently throwing every established norm to the winds to serve the cause of their political masters. The government is caught in a bind. And that is where the political savvy of Modi, the politician, would come into play. Maneesh Chhibber is a veteran journalist.For our full coverage on the SIR and the issues it has brought to citizens, click here.